


just a thing

by deadcrows



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Vampires, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27809770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadcrows/pseuds/deadcrows
Summary: this is a WIP!! idk how much will be added but this is mostly just a little preview for now. i proofread a little but there may be some mistake/errors, feel free to point it out if you find any or just have some suggestions. more will be added when there's enough for a whole chapter, it kinda cuts off suddenly so fair warning
Relationships: Edd/Matt (Eddsworld)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	just a thing

the man clambered up the apartment stairs, arms struggling to grasp the wall for support as he made the final step of the climb up to the hallway. the wall that he was thumping and banging against was almost the only thing keeping him upright, his legs growing weaker and weaker beneath him as he hurried as fast as he could to edd's apartment. tom was having troubles with the landlord again. for a multitude of reasons. as usual.

matt was gracious enough after edd's bargaining to allow tom to stay at his place undercover, so long as he didn't scuff up anything. or move his pictures. or the mirrors. but this made it difficult for matt to feed. tom was always either at his place or edd's. there was hardly a place to lie low while the aftereffects of eating subsided, and all of the signs were hardly subtle. this was the first chance he had gotten to feed in weeks. he had almost forgotten how sweet it tasted, how much it affected the body. it amazed matt how he was able to keep how weak he was getting from tom. even afterwards he still ached. pangs of hunger still gnawed through his gut. still frail. but still alive.

he fumbled with the knob, finally getting the door open and shuffling through it, latching it closed and locked behind him with an exasperated sigh as he wrestled with each of the many odd latches and chains and bolts fitted to the door. he knew tom was crashed at the other apartment, so he could safely rest on edd's couch until morning, atleast. the only one who knew of matt's secret was edd. tom's reaction to such a revelation could go either way, both undesirable for different reasons.

he flopped on top of the sleek leather couch which startled ringo who was on the other side, loafed on the opposite arm. he'd look over his shoulder with wide, dark eyes. they were darker, his irises a bolder color than normal. cold and almost dead looking, but somehow still living, dark rings and sunken eyelids to accompany them. he let out a sigh of relief once he realized it was just edd's cat and relaxed back into the comfortable chair. "...sorry, ringo." he mumbled through his arm and patted his side, offering for her to come closer. his eyes had already fluttered closed, humming to himself as he felt sleep start to lull him away.

edd found himself sharpening his knives at some ungodly time in the morning, as was usual for him these days, the only light from the little lamp on the counter and the sparks that flew off. he was tired, almost falling asleep multiple times that explained the bandaids on his hands, dark circles under his eyes that seemed to be permanent now. his hair was disheveled, sticking to his face in some places. he turned around and held the knife up to the light, expression unchanging though it was the result he wanted. emotions weren't important anymore, just his work, slotting the knife into its holster and tossing the sharpening tool onto the counter, sniffing and rubbing his nose with his sleeve. a nervous tic, one of many. he lead a paranoid lifestyle.

not always, but ever since he'd met matt he'd been dragged into it. he'd had these urges all his life but finding someone who needed this to live? edd lived for it too, reliving something in his head that bought a smirk to his usually dead expression, cracking his neck to the side with a satisfying pop.

great timing, it appeared, hearing the front door open and the nervous rattle of the locks he didn't even decide on having, though he was grateful for them. he peeked around the corner, wiping sleep off of his eyelids with a shaky finger, dark red under his nails.

"matt," he acknowledged, a friendly inflection in his tone that was a polar opposite to his looks. he wasn't small by any means, towering over most men. made him stronger too, which was necessary at times. he walked over to them and sat on the other end of the couch, a genuine spark of surprised happiness at how ringo was cuddled up into matt's armpit, shaking his head with a soft laugh. "you look awful."

it was hard to tell with his face shoved into the arm of the couch, but he smiled at the sudden sound of edd's voice, made obvious when he spoke. "I *feel* awful." the breathing was odd and sporadic, different draws of breath were entering and leaving matt's chest harder and heavier than others. "I didn't get hardly enough tonight. just enough to stay alive, mostly." he even sounded weak. like someone who had all of their energy sapped and stolen from them. "anything interesting go on...?" he had intended to add more to his question, but he gave it up as he struggled to even keep up with his own thoughts. and breathing.

"that so?" he looked over, resting his head on his palm, looking matt up and down with a concerned sigh. he really needed to take care of himself more, not like edd didn't enjoy getting matt's dirty work done, he was just tired today. but he was every day, so. "did you hide the body?"

edd cocked an eyebrow, a serious tone of voice taking over, because he knew how dumb matt was about that kind of thing. too many close calls with the police made him incredibly close to putting a wooden stake through the idiot's heart more than once.  
"and err, not really." he rolled his shoulders and leaned back into the couch, looking at matt still. if they weren't close, it'd be a horrifying look. he knew he'd need the rest because clearly the ginger wasn't capable of feeding himself. "guess I'm gonna have to get you something to eat?"

matt scrunched his face, an eye popping open to look at edd. "I didn't kill him." matt lifted a hand off the couch to shush edd before he could even begin to oppose while he shifted and stretched in an attempt to keep himself awake. "it was just some.. ah, kid. he was the only one I could find, just some teenager hanging around on the street." matt let out a big yawn, his teeth exposed from under his lips until he brought his mouth to a close again. "and that's why I didn't get enough." he rubbed his face, rolling over carefully in an attempt to keep ringo happy and to look at edd. "I knocked em' before he even knew what was happening. but yes, I hid him in a safe spot, and no one else was around. it's safe." matt could hardly keep his sunken eyes open even after moving and shifting as much as he did, finally relaxing after carefully avoiding disturbing ringo like she was a landmine. he was so tired, wishing he could just finally sleep.

but by the way that edd asked his question, he already knew he wouldn't get the privilege. "you don't have to if we can keep tom distracted tomorrow...?"

edd scoffed, considering for a brief moment how much easier it'd be to throw the idiot out of the window and be done with it. the brunette didn't appreciate being hushed but did so, not in the mood for bickering. he didn't really get a lot out of their interactions that weren't violence oriented as that was edd's main love language, talking was never a fruitful effort with him, though matt did like to do so. he blinked a few times while matt finished speaking, glancing from his teeth to his eyes until the other man's mouth closed, though his fang was poking out in a stupidly charming way. despite that, edd's expression was anything but charmed, scowling as he growled under his breath and dragged his hands down his face, leaving his palms on his cheeks to pull at his bottom eyelids with stress.

"matt," he watched the ginger shift, amused at how he didn't want to bother ringo. "do you not think people will question the bite mark?"

vampires were a superstition, obviously, but people in this part of town talked. paranoia plagued the streets here, whispers of monsters and demons weren't uncommon, and that had lead to edd having to deal with one of those up close and personal. an old friend, if you will. to edd, being unsuspicious and keeping peering eyes away was more important than their friendship, though he was gracious enough to keep his still decaying body under his floorboards.

so, matt was a bit fucking stupid to trust edd after that, tom didn't. it was mutual.

"get up." he huffed and sat himself up, rolling his shoulder before tugging his overcoat off the hanger by the door and grabbing the knife he sharpened from the kitchen, grateful he did so earlier. he wasn't letting matt off for being a dumbass today, he'd feed himself.

matt pressed his brows as he stared back at edd with an expression that may as well mean he actually didn't consider such a thing. "well of course they will! but er.. it's not like they'd know what actually did it." a little trill came from the small creature beside him as she stretched, stealing all of his attention at the moment as he began to gently stroke her, scratching her cheek with a light hum. she dove into his palm, curving against him so her back would rub into his hand. "either way, he's not gonna trace it back to me, right? so what's the issue?"

matt had a track record of leaving loose ends for edd to deal with. a few of them had actually been safe as matt claimed, others had threatened them with a trail that lead right back to the two of them. luckily, even as careless as matt had been before, few authorities have ever picked up on the scent. even fewer that still draw breath. still, at this point it was nearly impossible to tell whether or not matt was telling the truth.

matt frowned and puffed back at edd, giving ringo one last pat before rolling himself off the couch and just narrowly keeping himself from collapsing in the floor. he stumbled to his feet and followed the other as best he could, flicking his hood up and stuffing his hands in his pockets. he'd look out of the door cautiously before continuing after edd, pulling the door closed until it latched.

"where are we going?" he almost always managed to keep his tone surprisingly quiet while they were on the hunt, Especially for matt. despite matt's recklessness, it seemed he still took atleast a little care to not be *so* overt.

"not like that's ever happened before," edd mumbled as he zipped up his coat, soft red velvet lining the inside enclosed by expensive real leather. nothing edd could afford though he lived a middle-class life, it was a heirloom of he and tord's friendship considering it belonged to him. he strided to the door, unbolting a stupid amount of locks, running the knife over his stubble absently as he waited outside for matt.

he didn't care to tell the ginger to wear something warm, he didn't feel the cold. or heat. didn't feel a lot, really, even before he has a vampire he was too dull to consider how his body worked anyway. good times, when it was just four friends doing friend things. edd grimaced at the thought and turned his attention to the knife, holding it in front of his face and looking into his reflection. his cheekbones were a little hollow, dark circles encapsulating his entire eyes, pupils dilated permanently into dangerous pinpricks, he looked dirty all the time despite taking care of himself more than a murderer usually would.

"somewhere." was all he replied, when matt was ready he'd make his way downstairs faster than the other because of his stride, walking down the street illuminated only by the few lights on and streetlights, one flickering annoyingly that only added to his unnerving aura.

matt pricked a brow at edd, wondering what the vagueness was about. sure, it probably wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but he couldn't let the thought go. the expression faded as he followed down the stairs, groaning as he made it down to ground level and lumbered after the man who was kind even to even be bothering to take care of him and keep him alive.

edd had become cold and a little unsympathetic for awhile now, even more so after what went down between him and tord, and the fight with tom afterward, but somehow matt still didn't see him much differently than before. after all he had helped him for this long, even though he could certainly just let him starve and get it over with. the same kindness edd would've shown then, too, even if he had known that he was a monster.

of course he had changed. even matt knew it. but despite how emotionless edd appeared, the empty eyes, the unkempt stubble, the dark rings, the icy stares that could cut as deep as the knife he branded, the constant paranoia; he still looked up to him. he still saw edd as his best friend, one who he would die for without a doubt that edd would do the same for him. one who always knew what move to make, where to go, how to do it. even as calloused and dark as edd might be, he still got the feeling that he cared. but the subtle feeling of doubt crept up matt's spine every now and then. an urge of danger, that he was wrong. one that he shoved away every time it reared it's ugly head.

matt shuffled behind the taller man, struggling to stay on his own two feet much less match edd's pace. a stream of white fog puffed and escaped from between matt's lips as he cleared his throat and tried to close the gap between the two. the ginger was hunched over, face concealed by his jacket that he still had even after all these years. "edd...how far is it?" matt already sounded out of breath, and sickly. his voice sounded like it was just borderline on becoming a pathetic whine.

"I'm.. tired." if edd looked back he'd notice he was looking up at him from under his hood, almost in a cowardly way. like he was afraid expressing his exhaustion might offend him, despite knowing edd wouldn't hurt him for such a little thing.


End file.
